Yoruba cuisine: How to cook Efo Riro?

Do you want to learn how to cook Efo Riro? This article will help you find out what ingredients you might need and how can you actually cook it.

Ask Naij

Nigerian traditional cuisine is different from any other in the world. Yoruba foods play an important role in the culture of Nigerians. It is as popular as the cuisine of Hausa and Igbo.

However, Yoruba cuisine is still very different. Most of the dishes look very colourful as the amount of ingredients is usually huge – and they all have different colors.

Yoruba people like to combine the tastes in their cuisine. That’s why it’s so unique. It can be anything – soups, meat, stew, porridge. It’s absolutely a must-try.

You won’t be disappointed and the unforgettable taste of Efo Riro and other foods will always remind you of kind and open Yoruba people.

Yoruba Foods

No matter what nationality you have, the Yoruba recipes will be useful for you. The Nigerian cuisine is almost the same in every region. All Nigerians eat rice or porridge.

It’s like a national dish and people from all Nigerian States eat it daily. However, the way they cook it is still a little bit different. Some regions tend to add more ingredients and some like to remove them.

But any Yoruba person can eat the typical Nigerian foods. However, they have some recipes of their own. What is more, Efo Riro and other foods are not only eaten by the people of this ethnic group.

The entire country loves their culture and their traditional cuisine. That’s why it will be really nice to learn how to cook some of their foods so that you can impress your family and friends with a tasty dinner!

Sometimes all of us need some change – even change in eating habits.

As for Efo Riro, it’s popular all over the country. It has a lot of benefits. First of all, it’s really delicious. But what is more, it is also good for your health. “Efo” stands for vegetables – this dish contains a lot of those.

It can be both soup and stew. There are a lot of other Yoruba soups but this one is loved the most among Nigerians. Efo Riro can also be served with fufu which makes it even more special.

However, you can serve it as you wish. This soup can remind you of edikaikong soup but even though ingredients are the same, tatashe and spinach are used in a different way.

Not everyone likes tatashe so a lot of Nigerians substitute it with tomatoes. So basically all of it depends on your personal taste and choice.

It might take some time for you to cook this Yoruba soup but you will be satisfied with the result. Half an hour to prepare the ingredients and another hour to cook it are worth it.

This soup is usually cooked for a family of five or six people but you can share it with your friends too.

Ingredients for the Efo Riro soup

Sliced Spinach leaves (7-10 cups)

7-10 pieces stock fish ear

1kg assorted meat

1 cup of sliced tatashe

1/4 cup of sliced pepper

1/2 cup of sliced onions

1/2 Cup of Ground Crayfish

2-3 spoons of iru (locust beans)

2 or 3 smoked fish

200ml of Palm oil

3 knorr cubes

These are the most popular ingredients of the Efo Riro soup. However, there can be other products added. It depends on the cook itself which taste they want to get as a result.

But as for the ingredients listed above, it’s necessary to use all of them while making your dish.

How to cook Efo Riro

Prepare!

Take a big bowl so that all the necessary ingredients can be placed there. After that you can put tatashe and sliced red pepper there. It will make the Yoruba soup look a lot better.

Then you would have to prepare meat – wash it using a lot of water. If you are using fish instead – repeat the same procedure.

Now you can start cooking!

Here are the step-by-step instructions which will help you make this wonderful soup that will be a great lunch/dinner for all your family! Read thoroughly and do what it says.

Step #1

Put the meat in a pot and add some water. Don’t forget salt! The sliced onions, 2 knorr cubes should also be added there. It has to be boiled for about fifteen minutes. After that it’s time to add 2 cups of water.

When it’s dried you can stop cooking. Then take the smoked fish, stock fish and another cup of water. Repeat the same procedure – cook for fifteen minutes.

It actually depends how hard your stock fish is – maybe you might need to spend even more time cooking.

Step #2

After the first step is done you can put the pot away. After that you can take another pot and pour 200 ml of your palm oil. It has to be heated first and then sliced onions, pepper/tatshe can be placed there.

Fry it for 10 minutes but don’t allow it to burn.

Step #3

Now it’s turn for cooked meat or fish (depending on your way of cooking) to be added. Place it in the pot and wait for 5 minutes before you also put crayfish and iru. Wait for another 3 minutes. Now it’s time for the rest of your ingredients. A cube of maggi, a little bit salt, stir and the spinach leaves should be placed in the pot now. Give it another few minutes and the dish is ready to be served.

Step #4

Now it’s time for serving! You can invite all your big family to the table! Efo Riro can be served with eba, rice, beans or anything else you like.

A lot of Nigerians choose fufu because the combination of the tastes is just incredible.

There are plenty of others Yoruba foods that you might find tasty so in case you loved this soup you can always look for more recipes on the Internet.